Hinge and lock for box-covers.



2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1-". W. TOBEY. V HINGE AND LOCK FOB. 'BOX COVERS.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 18, 1908.

Patented May 31, 1910.

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ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

FRED W. TOBEY, F GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

amen AND LOOK FOR BOX-COVERS.

Specification of Letters Patent. ,Patented May 31, 1910.

Application filed June 18, 1908. Serial No. 439,241.

specification.

This invention relates to improvements in hinges and locks for boxcovers, and its object is to provide simple and efficient means forconnecting a box and its hinged cover and for locking such cover inposition through the operation of the hinge.

The device operates as a hinge without calling into operation all theparts shown and described; and it also, when complete, operates as acombined hinge and look.

I design this invention to be applied to covered boxes of any size orshape. I have shown in the drawlngs a form of box designed especiallyfor holding the cards of a card index and provided with the addi-vtional special part-s adapting it for that purpose.

The ordinary box cover hinge app-lied upon the exterior surface may be aconsiderable blemish to the appearance of the box, and it is difficultto make the hinge and its attachments of sufiicient strength to resistthe strain causedby the weight of the cover when open, or the force thatmay be used in opening; and this is especially true of small boxes wheresmall hinges and small screws must be used if the ordinary method isfollowed.

By my invention 'Ipro'duce a covered box.

having no hinge or other attachment Whatever upon the external surface,one which will permit the cover to open within a small vertical spaceand one so strong that no force applied to the cover when it is openwill affect or strain the hinge connection.

These objects I accomplish by the con struction shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the card index box with the cover swungto its extreme rearward open position, so that we look down into theopen box, but see only what was the forward and is now the upper edge ofthe cover. Fig. 2 is a vertical secs tion on line ss of Fig.1, and'Fig.3 is a vertical section upon line y y of Fig. 1, but having the lungedcover in a different position. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectionon line m-w of Figs. 2 and 3, and the lines s-s and 3 y in Fig. 4 alsoindicate the planes upon which Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively taken.Fig. 5 is a detailed perspective of the hinge and spring.

In the drawin s the numeral 1 represents the main body of the box havingfour sides and a bottom and 2 represents the hinge cover.

3, 3 are the bent or curved hinge arms connecting the box and the cover.At their upper ends these hinge arms are pivoted to the cover at itsopposite ends by the pivots 10, 10. These points of attachment arespaced upon the cover as determined by the length and curve of the hingearms, so as to bring the cover when open to the desired verticalposition. At their lower end these hinge arms are'connected by a rodorbar 8, the connection being either loose or rigid, as may be desired.The tops of the hinge arms being connected to the cover at oppositepoints, these arms must move equally and simultaneously whenever thecover is opened. This rod 8 lies horizontally along or near the innersurface of the rear side of the box,

and is suitably held against unlimited vertical movement in eitherdirection. It is desirable that slight vertical motion in. one directionbe permitted, and as the particular means'of accomplishing this objectin the a construction shown, I have provided a horizontal groove inwhich this rod lies, which groove 1s wider than the rod, and thereforepermits the latter to move up and down a short distance. This groote isindicated by the numeral 11. It is alsodesirable, in order to' produce asnap lock effect, that there should be a spring or yielding resistanceto the vertical motion of this rod, and in the form shown I haveprovided this effect. by the flat tension spring 4, the upper convexportion of which rests against the upper surface of the groove, and thedepressed ends of which rest upon the rod and normally press it down tothe bottom of the groove. The'vertical retaining means for the rod,being, in the form shown, the horizontal groove 11, may be'provided atsuch point and in such manner as'the form and sire of the parts makeappropriate. In this card index box I provide at the rear and frontthe-usual blocks 5 and 6 straight upon their surfaces which contact withthe inner box surface, and beveled upon. their inner surfaces, asparticularly indicated in Fig. 3.

These serve properly to hold the index cards so that the tops are easyof examination, and at the same time the rear block 5 furnishes aconvenient location for the horizontal groove 11; and by making thisblock 5 sli htly shorter than the block 6 and slight y shorter thannecessary to fill the entire length of the box, there remains a freespace at each end of the block 5 between the ends thereof and theadjacent box ends, within which space the hinge arms 3 may travel.

7 7 are blocks or projections upon the inner surface of the box ends andalong the bottom' thereof, serving to hold the contained cards'againstlongitudinal motion in the box, and thus causinga free space also ateach end of the cards, within which free space the hinge arms may traveland in this way preventing the cards from obstructing the swing of thesearms.

In Fig. 2 the dotted lines indicate the positions taken by the partswhen the cover is closed, and 9 indicates the cover when in this closedposition.

In order to produce a snap lock effect for the cover, I provide upon thebox front 7 means for engaging the cover edge when closed, and as suchmeans I have shown the front block 6 rojecting upward above the edge ofthe ox front, andrearwardly beveled. It is evident that by theconstruction shown, when the cover is opened it will first be raisedsomewhat and then will swing backward u on a nearly horizontal plane andthen wil swing upward into the posi tion shown in Fi 2. This permits abox where the vertica space is limited, as, for example, if it standsupon one shelf and beow. another, .to have the cover open with economyof vertical space; and evidently by pro erly adjusting the length andcurve, or ang e, of the hinge arm and the points of attachment at eachend, the cover may be glven any desired motion of this generalcharacter, and whenopen may rest either hlgher or lower than thepositlon shown in Fig. 2, even to the extent of bringing the rear edgedown even with the box bottom. ThlS openin motion and 0 en' position ofthe cover ma e the box less liable to tipping over, and, indeed, theopen cover ma prevent rather than facilitate the capsizin of the box,and no ordinary strain ap lie to the open cover can affect or wea en thehm connection.

I it is desired to. have a lock or stop con-' nection between the boxand cover when the cover is closed, I accomplish this'very simply .bythe means shown in the drawingcoiiperatingwith the peculiar form of srlng hmge at the rear of the cover. Such loc ing means consists of anupward projection from the top ed e ofthe box; front and carried onupwardly in substantially the-plane of the inside of the box front. Suchprojection may be vertical, as shown in Fig. 2 (and having, if desired,above the vertical'portion a beveled corner),'or it may be upon a curveor bevel for the entire distance, asshown in Fig. 3, but in either case,the projection must be forward of and outside the are of the circle uponwhich the lower inside corner of the box cover front would normallyswing if the point of pivotal attachment remains stationary. This meansof enga ement makes it necessary that the initial is applied to thefront edge of the cover the first elfect is that the entire cover, frontand rear, lifts until the front cover edge is free from the stop orlock, and then a backward motion of the cover may commence and freelycontinue. When the spring is employed, giving a yielding motion to thehinges, it is evident that this first lifting 'motlon, on opening thecover, will be against and must be sufiicient to overcome theresistanceof the spring, and that in the closing motion, when this same point isreached and the resistance of the spring is overcome sufliciently topermit the cover edge to pass the stop, the tension of the spring willpull the cover down front and rear and snap it shut. This provides insubstance a snap lock sufficient to prevent accidental openingandholding the cover tight against dust and dirt. I prefer, also,-to havethe rear inserted block 5 project above the rear edge of the box, and bythese two inserted blocks I thus provide, both at front and rear,flanges which not only serve to hold the cover in proper position, butalso assist in making a tight joint.

I have shown the hinge arms of bent or curved form. This shape isessential in order to permit the cover completel to take the pos1tionshown'in Fig. 2, an in order to cause the cover to move in theflattened'arc in which the construction illustrated will cause it tomove; but as to the remainder of motion is finished, it is obviouslyimportant I that the relative vertical motion should be permitted bymeans of a vertical shiftin'gat in the body of the cover or hingemembers.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim to have invented anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination of a box, a cover, bent hinge arms pivotallyconnected to the cover and to the box, means for permitting verticalmotion of the hinge arms at one of their points of attachment, means forlimiting such vertical motion and a projection carried by the box frontfor removably engaging the front cover edge which projection extendsupwardly in the plane of the box front far enough to prevent any initialswinging motion b the cover on its hinge.

2. The -COIIiblI1flt10I1 of a box, a cover, a bent hinge arm pivotallyconnected to the cover and to the box, means for permitting and forlimiting vertical motion of the hinge arm at one of such points ofattachment and yielding means for holding such hinge arm at onedetermined point and for returning the same thereto.

3. The combination of a box, a cover, a bent hinge arm pivotallyconnected to the cover structure at its upper end and to the boxstructure at its lower end, one of such structures being provided withan opening permitting and limiting vertical motion by .the adjacenthinge arm pivotal connection.

4. The combination of a box, a cover, and bent hinge arms pivoted attheir upper ends to the box cover and carrying at their lower ends aconnecting rod, the box structure being provided with a horizontalgroove permitting and limiting vertical motion by the hinge armconnectin rod.

5. The combination 0 a box, a cover, bent hinge arms pivoted to thecover and at their lower ends united by a connecting rod,

provided with a' the box structure bein horizontal groove permitting andlimiting vertical motion by the connecting rod and spring means forresiliently holding the connecting rod at the desired normal position.

6. The combination of a box, a cover, bent hinge arms pivoted at theirup er ends to the cover and at their lower on s carrying a connectingrod and an inserted rear block provided with a horizontal groovepermitting and limiting vertical motion by the connecting rod.

7. The combination of a box, a cover, bent hinge arms pivoted at theirupper ends to thecover and at their lower ends carrying a connectingrod, means carried by the box structure for permitting and limit-ingVertical motion by such connecting rod, spring means for normallyholding such-connecting rod at a determined position and for returningit thereto after removal, and vertically extending means carried by thebox front for engagement with the front cover edge when such springmeans is compressed.

8. The combination of abox, a cover,

front and rear blocks inserted in the box my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

FRED W. TOBEY.

Witnesses:

MARY S. Tooxnn, MARY SCHULTE.

